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Acknowledgments | |
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Note to the Reader | |
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About the Author | |
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Introduction: Becoming a Savvy Investor | |
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Establishing a Frame of Reference | |
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From "Dumb" Barter to Intelligent Agents | |
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Point-Counterpoint | |
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Stocks | |
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Mutual Funds | |
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Bonds | |
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ETFs | |
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Options | |
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Futures | |
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Summary | |
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Confronting Information Overload | |
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Investor Constraints | |
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Investor Choices | |
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Investor Safety | |
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Stocks and Equity Markets | |
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Varieties of Stocks | |
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Just What Is a Security, Anyway? | |
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Issues and Underwriters: Why Does a Corporation Sell Stockto the Public? | |
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Why Investors Buy Stock | |
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Summing Up Total Return: Dividends and Capital Gains | |
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A Letter to Our Shareholders: Annual and Quarterly Reports (and Filings) | |
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Making Sense of Types, Classes, and Other Stock Categories:A Map of the World of Stock | |
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Stock Markets | |
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The Big Board | |
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The Incredible Growth of Trading and Capital | |
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National Association of Securities Dealers Automated QuotationSystem (Nasdaq) | |
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Technology, Dark Pools, and the Evolution of a Unified Market | |
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Three Views of the Numbers | |
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Fundamental Analysis | |
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Technical Analysis | |
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Quantitative Analysis | |
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Where to Find Information on Stocks and Financial Markets | |
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A Selection of Information Sources on the Financial Markets | |
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How to Buy and Sell Stock | |
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Full-Service Brokers | |
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Discount Brokers | |
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Financial Intermediaries | |
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Direct Purchase | |
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If It Sounds Too Good to Be True . . . Protecting Yourself from Stock Scams | |
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A Note on Financial Planners | |
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Mutual Funds and Investment Companies | |
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A History and Overview of the Mutual Fund Business | |
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Open-End versus Closed-End Funds | |
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Index Funds | |
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Load versus No-Load Funds | |
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Advantages of Mutual Funds | |
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Simplicity | |
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Diversification | |
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Access to New Issues | |
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Economies of Scale | |
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Professional Management | |
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Indexing | |
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Disadvantages | |
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Impact of One-Time Charges and Recurring Fees on Fund Performance | |
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Hidden Cost of Brokerage | |
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Some Hidden Risks of Fund Ownership | |
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Sources of Information on Mutual Funds | |
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Investment Company Institute Classification of Types of Funds | |
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Lipper Analytical Services | |
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Morningstar | |
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Alternative Investments | |
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Hedge Funds | |
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Funds of Funds | |
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Other Alternatives | |
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Bonds and Other Fixed-Income Securities | |
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Seven Characteristics of Bonds | |
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The Lifespan of Bonds | |
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Interest versus Discount | |
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Relationship of Price to Yield | |
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Four Important Yield Measures | |
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Credit Quality, Ratings, and Insurance | |
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Call and Related Features | |
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Fixed versus Floating Rates and Foreign Currencies | |
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Chapter Fifteen: How the Other $30 Trillion Is Invested | |
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Treasuries | |
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Corporates | |
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Mortgage-Backed Securities | |
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Municipals | |
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Summary | |
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Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives: Engines of Financial Innovation | |
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Chapter Sixteen: Options | |
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Exchange-Traded Options | |
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Combination Strategies | |
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Determining the Value of an Option | |
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Chapter Seventeen: Futures | |
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A Seller's Need to Hedge . . | |
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Some Buyers Need to Hedge, Too | |
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Speculation or Insurance? Maybe a Little of Both | |
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Actuals versus Cash-Settled Contracts | |
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Margin and Collateral | |
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Chapter Eighteen: Other Derivatives | |
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Summing Up Risk and Return | |
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Chapter Nineteen: How Well Are My Investments Doing? | |
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The Basics of Return | |
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Annualized Returns: Arithmetic (Simple) or Geometric (Compound)? | |
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Time-Weighted Returns vs. Money-Weighted Returns | |
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Complicating Factors | |
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Chapter Twenty: Coming to Grips with the Many Dimensions of Risk | |
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A Definition of Investment Risk | |
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The Relativity of Risk | |
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What Is Market Risk? | |
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"It Will Fluctuate" | |
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Other Kinds of Investment Risk: From the Quantifiable to the Subjective | |
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Balancing Risk and Return | |
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Chapter Twenty-One: A Crescendo of Change | |
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Again, We Ask, What Is a Market? | |
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Glossary | |
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Index | |